INS Arihant, planned to be the first of five submarines of its class, will be ready to begin sea trials, said Admiral Nirmal Verma, the navy commander. When the vessel eventually becomes operational, India will be able to launch nuclear missiles from the sea, land and air, joining a handful of countries possessing the "nuclear triad".

The strategic aim is to deter China and Pakistan and establish India as the leading power in the Indian Ocean. "INS Arihant is steadily progressing towards becoming operational," said Adml Verma. "We are pretty close to putting it to sea."

The navy was poised to "complete the triad, and our maritime and nuclear doctrines will then be aligned to ensure our nuclear insurance comes from the sea," added Adml Verma. "Given our unequivocal 'no first-use commitment', a retaliatory strike capability that is credible and invulnerable is an imperative."

Nonetheless, Adml Verma’s statement is likely to provoke
a strong reaction from Beijing, which warned India
against ‘arrogance’ earlier this year following its
successful launch of the Agni IV intercontinental
ballistic missile, a land-based weapon which can strike
any city in China.

Mohan Guruswamy, from the Centre for Policy Alternatives
in New Delhi, said the imminent launch of the new
submarine “changed the equation [between India and China]
considerably.”

He pointed out that India ws also planning to launch six
nuclear-powered attack submarines, adding that within
seven years the country should have a varied fleet which
would, in theory, be able to block Chinese access to the
Indian Ocean via the Strait of Malacca. “They could be
sitting off Karachi  or China. It’s an investment for
the future,” said Mr Guruswamy.

Good for them! An MD’s recommendation is to not sit on chairs but to sit on a mat on the floor Asian-style. Says sitting on a chair is not good for your posture, eating or internal organs. Lots of folks now use stand-up desks too.

5
posted on 08/12/2012 7:41:00 PM PDT
by Jyotishi
(Seeking the truth, a fact at a time.)

In January 1988 India leased a Charlie I class submarine from the USSR for three years. The lease expired in January 1991 and the boat was returned to to the USSR. Arihant is based on the Soviet/Russian Charlie and Akula classes.

Im somewhat... skeptical of the idea that one can just misplace 1.3 billion people.

That is exactly point of the analysis. The numbers that can be calculated by Western intelligence don't remotely match what the Chinese are posturing as true.

Chinese have an official GDP growth rate that almost all Western economists are skeptical of. Is it so hard to believe if the Chinese misstate on one official fact they won't misstate another? Why would they understate the population? It shows how impoverished that country really is.

Why would they overstate the growth rate? To keep the discontentment from building. Smith has been pretty dead on right with the material he has been willing to release.

GDP estimates are by their very nature arbitrary, and can be easily manipulated. There is a major difference between GDP estimates for China being too high, and China actually having double the population. China isn’t some hermit kingdom - westerners can readily move around the vast majority of the country. Why would every international statistical agency co-operate in covering up the existence of more then a billion people?

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